Do Graphics Take Away From Games?

[Mikeyfell]

yes!
undoubtedly.
all games are made on a budget, and current gen graphics are expensive.
All the money to make high quality graphics come form "Less important places" (I said that with so much irony my lungs almost turned inside out) like the writing team, or voice actors.
or they just make the game short enough to not run out of money.
games like MW2 which have jaw dropping graphics have to be six hours long just to accommodate the game budget.
or even Mass Effect 2. Awesome graphics, only half as much dialogue as there should have been.

 

[Peabob]

I don't think great graphics will ALWAYS ruin a game, but I do think a lot of developers concentrate so much on wowing the players with them that they assume it makes up for flaws in gameplay. The wow factor fades but gameplay will always remain. It's what brings people back to a game, and why more people still play Super Mario on SNES than Donkey Kong Country.

Some games get the balance just ring. Fight Night Round 4 looks amazing, but it's the intuitive gameplay that made people play it a lot online. I still play it now and hardly notice the graphics (which still look as good as any other console game IMO).

 

[Altorin]

Graphics are sort of the cornerstone of what makes a video game. Bawk about story and gameplay all you want, but without a graphical interface, you're not playing a video game.

Do unnecessarily high graphics add superfluous cost to a project for little gain? They can, but the companies and developers that deal only in "Teh best graphics" do it for the graphics, and creating a world that you can't believe is inside the screen on your desk. They take that little gain, because it all adds up in their eyes.. MOST developers manage to strike a balance and don't push graphics past the point of diminishing returns, for one because the 360 probably wouldn't handle graphics with the bar set past the point of diminishing returns, and for two, it's not actually a difficult balance to strike.. Games can be AAA titles these days with relatively low grade graphics.. Boosted up for pre-rendered FMVs for sure, but overall, it doesn't take much polish to make a video game shine in this day and age.

 

[Levitas1234]

I dislike games with over the top graphics, it seems unnecessary and the resources spent on graphics could have been used for something much better like gameplay or story.

Lotro will never have flying mounts because to make a new zone in lotro would cost more money then they could ever make. Wow however, with it's shitty graphics needs not worry about how much they can expand their gameplay.

now this is just an example but i see this trend a lot

 

[Faladorian]

Nope. It goes Gameplay > Story > Graphics. Just look, there are a lot of good games with bad graphics (look at NES and SNES, also a lot of Flash games and Indie games) and bad games with good graphics (MW2, Halo (past the first one, it's all just the same shit over and over again and again and again). There are some good games with REALLY bad stories (the only one i can think of a this point is Prince of Persia). But a good game with bad gameplay? it doesnt exist. all good games have good gameplay. That's what makes them the most enjoyable. First you appease your need for fun (Gameplay) then your thirst for immersion (Story) then if youre still not satisfied, go ahead and add a few pretty things in there (Graphics).